The Republican National Committee is disputing a $2,500 charge related to a trip its ousted chairman Michael Steele took to Italy late last year to see the Washington, D.C., archbishop elevated to cardinal, POLITICO has learned.

The latest money-related flap comes as the RNC, now run by former Wisconsin GOP head Reince Priebus, is contending with the discovery of a host of questionable Steele-era contracts and commitments as officials try to cut down a $21 million pile of debt.

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Asked about the Steele trip, an RNC spokesman pointed to the committee’s year-end financial filing with the FEC - which contains an American Express card charge of about $2,500 that’s listed as contested. “We’re disputing it,” the spokesman said.

But two sources with knowledge of the charge said it was from Steele’s trip to Italy in November, nearly three weeks after the elections, to see then-Archbishop Donald Wuerl, of the Archdiocese of Washington, get elevated to Cardinal.

The event was a well-attended affair, which including MSNBC host Chris Matthews, according to reports at the time. Wuerl was elevated to Cardinal on Nov. 20, 2010. He was one of 24 who were elevated to Cardinal status by Pope Benedict XVI, in a ceremony at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.

The credit card charge was made around the Thanksgiving holiday. At the time, it was clear Steele was going to be facing a handful of challengers for his job two months later.

Steele, a Catholic, spoke to the archdiocese of Washington’s newspaper, the Catholic Standard, about the trip back in November.

The paper reported that Steele and his wife Andrea “joined the Archdiocese of Washington pilgrimage.”

The paper quoted Steele saying it was great “to have a dear friend like Cardinal Wuerl elevated, and to celebrate with him made it very special.”

It was unclear why the trip was related to RNC business. It also wasn’t immediately clear if this was the only charge related to the trip.

A former RNC official with direct knowledge of the situation said Steele, prior to the trip and after the 2010 elections, was weighing whether to go to Italy or a beach for some downtime.

Steele couldn’t be reached for comment. And a call to Steele’s longtime assistant Belinda Cook, who was his RNC convention liaison and has worked for him for years, went unreturned.

What does it mean when the RNC "disputes" the $2,500 credit card charge? Does it mean the RNC is trying to get Steele to pay for what was obviously a personal religious pilgrimage? They should lean heavily on him to get their money back; the trip was certainly not Republican business, unless Republicans and the Roman Catholic Church are somehow in cahoots (in which case we should tax all Catholic churches).